Forum:Literary Discussion
I've lately become interested in looking into modern fantasy books and seeing if anything literary can be gleaned from them. I know that Paolini is a young writer, and (usually) age/experience is one of the essential ingredients to writing universally meaningful books, but that doesn't mean that Paolini couldn't have planted some literary tidbits here and there. I was wondering what other people thought about Eragon and Eldest in terms of themes, literary motifs, messages, etc. I've found in the two books: 1. It's a (almost) classical growing up story, even though, in my opinion, Eragon doesn't do all that much growing. When Brom drops the bomb (hey, that rhymes!), Eragon is forced to open his eyes and see the "bigger picture". I think he becomes less idealistic about life in general. He learns that there are limits to things. He begins to understand the responsibility that he as a Rider has to the world. He's less wimpish about killing (though that in itself doesn't indicate maturity, it may indicate a moving-on). He (starts to) learn to put aside his infatuation for Arya for the good of the war. It's a little bit too similar to Luke's journey in Star Wars, but still, I think it's a valid "theme" as it imparts a message to us readers. 2. Another theme seems to be ethics. Particularly in Eldest, Eragon gets a lot of new ideas crammed down his ear during his training. Sometimes it feels that Paolini is preaching, but it makes the readers aware of their own ethics, I think, albeit in a "ok-we-get-it-there-is-no-god-and-you-think-eating-meat-is-ethically-wrong" way. Eragon certainly goes through a series of struggles as he debates about the meat-eating bit. One could argue that this theme comes under the umbrella of growing up, but I think it being a part of the reader's growth as well, warrants its own theme. 3. Sacrifice is another. Eragon, like Frodo (LotR), receives a scar that causes him perpetual pain. This effect is somewhat spoiled because Eragon a) does a lot of self-pitying and b) is completely healed at the Blood Oath Ceremony and is given super-human powers to boot! forget, does the scar on Eragon's hand disappear as well? Or am I wrong? Perhaps sacrifice can only really happen when it is voluntary, and Eragon doesn't seem to make a ''choice''at any one point. He didn't really know all this was going to happen and he can't really get out of it (Saphira wouldn't stand for his backing out). So it's kind of up for debate - did Eragon do this willingly and knowingly? Is there any personal sacrifice on his part? 4. Responsibility is possibly another, although already mentioned under Growing-Up. I think Eragon is less aware of this than his cousin, Roran. Roran has this thing about examining every death he causes. In fact, I would say that Rowan has grown more in terms of his character than Eragon! Eragon seems to examine this point when Oromis asks him what he's really fighting for. Anyways, these are just some ideas. I would love to hear what other people think about The Inheritance series in terms of the literary. Cheers! Avery 10:28, 15 August 2007 (UTC)